Red-faced Cong to back independents in 16 seats returned by VBA

The Congress will also engage in a friendly contest in another five seats with its allies –VBA, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) and Republican Party of India (Gavai)

MUMBAI: Put in a tight spot by its new ally, the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), the Congress has decided to support independent candidates in the 16 seats returned by the VBA for the Mumbai civic polls as it could not find candidates for these seats.

Red-faced Cong to back independents in 16 seats returned by VBA

The Congress will also engage in a friendly contest in another five seats with its allies –VBA, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) and Republican Party of India (Gavai).

On Tuesday, the last day of filing nominations, the VBA returned 16 seats to the Congress, placing the party in an awkward position. Congress leaders frantically searched for candidates for these seats but they too failed to find any. The seats are ward numbers 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 21, 30, 46, 80, 84, 117, 153, 182 and 198.

VBA spokesperson Siddharth Mokale said, “We returned 16 seats to the Congress as we could not find appropriate candidates and asked the Congress to nominate candidates instead.”

Putting a spin on what is clearly an embarrassing situation, city Congress president Varsha Gaikwad said, “We have fielded candidates for all the seats where the party is in an alliance. For the additional seats we got from the VBA, we have decided to support independent candidates.”

According to the original seat-sharing formula, the Congress was to contest 139 seats and the VBA 62. After the VBA “could not find better candidates” to fight the elections, the Congress is contesting 143 seats and VBA 49. Both parties will engage in a friendly fight in three seats, numbers 116, 140 and 181.

Congress insiders say they may lose all 16 seats returned by its ally. “How could we find candidates and get them to file nominations with so little time? As a result, we could not field candidates and will have to support independents. This means we are set to lose those seats. Even if independents get elected, there is no guarantee they will stay with us after the polls,” said a senior Congress functionary.

The Congress is contesting the BMC election along with the VBA for the first time. The idea behind the alliance is to consolidate Muslim and Dalit votes in large numbers, creating a third major alliance after the BJP-Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS.

In the last BMC elections held in 2017, the Congress won 31 seats, while the Prakash Ambedkar-led Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM), the VBA’s earlier avatar, failed to open its account despite an alliance with Left parties.

Apart from the VBA, Congress will engage in a friendly fight in one seat each, with the Mahadev Jankar (RSP) and Republican Party of India (Gavai), in wards 133 and 125, respectively, according to Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant.